Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter to Northwestern University President Michael Schill and Board of Trustees Chair Peter Barris requesting documents and information regarding Northwestern’s response to numerous antisemitic incidents on its campus and its failure to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff. The deadline for Northwestern to produce documents is May 17, 2024.

In the letter, Foxx writes: “The unlawful pro-terror encampment, dubbed the ‘Northwestern Liberated Zone,’ disrupted campus life and became a hotspot for pervasive antisemitic harassment and hostility. Rather than enforcing University rules and disciplining those who violated them, Northwestern’s leaders surrendered to the violators in a shameful agreement. … President Schill failed to consult his own President’s Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate on his decision to enter the agreement.”
 
The letter continues: “The ‘Northwestern Liberated Zone,’ which continues to operate, has disrupted Northwestern’s learning environment and has been the site of numerous crimes and antisemitic incidents, including assault, obstruction of justice, harassment, and theft. … While the recent advent of the ‘Northwestern Liberated Zone’ has been a flashpoint for antisemitic incidents, pervasive antisemitism has long been an issue at the University. A 2016 study by Brandeis University researchers found Northwestern was a ‘hotspot’ for antisemitism, ‘where the majority of Jewish students perceive a hostile environment toward Israel, and over one quarter perceive a general environment of hostility toward Jews on their campus.’”
 
Foxx concludes: “Many Jewish Northwestern students have expressed that they feel abandoned by University leadership. … The record makes clear that President Schill and other Northwestern leaders have not only failed to address the pervasive antisemitic harassment and disruptions of a safe learning environment that have plagued the University in a serious manner, but have also surrendered to the malefactors responsible for this hatred and chaos. This is an unacceptable dereliction of duty.”

To read the full letter, click here.

Background
On Thursday, May 23, at 10:15 a.m., the Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Virginia Foxx, will hold a full Committee hearing with the presidents of Northwestern, UCLA, and Rutgers titled “Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos.”

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